Arthur Doyle (1944-2014)

[clifford_thornton]

According to Burning Ambulance (Phil Freeman is a trusted source), reedman Arthur Doyle has passed away.

A favorite of mine indeed - worked with Noah Howard and Bill Dixon as well as his own groups in the '70s, guitarist Rudolph Grey in the '80s, and recently as a leader in some admittedly quite strange settings with his own childlike vocal tunes blended with free improvisation. He was falsely imprisoned in France for a stretch in the '80s (IIRC) and seemed to have some personal struggles, but he was and is a true American original well worth celebrating.

Edited January 26, 2014 by clifford_thornton

[Homefromtheforest]

Sad to hear; an eccentric and unique artist!

[king ubu]

Very sad news.

[Leeway]

Somehow always out in the margins but his influence was real. And his playing was exciting. RIP.

[Stefan Wood]

RIP

[clifford_thornton]

Little piece I wrote on the man here.

[mjazzg]

Nice piece CT, thanks. I learned a fair deal about someone I should have paid more attention to when he lived, like going to see him perform with Steve Noble as in the photo that accompanies your piece (Cafe Oto, London I think).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmtomKa5yCo

[ep1str0phy]

I've been re-examining Doyle's music as of late, and Noah Howard's Black Ark really stuck out to me.

Having digested a large segment of the Howard discography in the last few weeks, this is clearly a highlight--strong melodies, very thoughtful arrangements, and a nice balance between driving modal grooves and multi-directional rhythm. I think what sets this apart from a lot of material with similar instrumentation and personnel is just how effectively the music showcases the very individual (and in some ways disparate) talents of the band members. Muhammad Ali, for example--he's a spectacular free percussionist and a creative, if somewhat less flashy, "inside" player--it's nice to hear him just hammer these dark, meaty vamps and then expand into abstract propulsion in the solo passages.

This is a great Doyle album, however, because the tenor is sort of a textural foil to the alto. I'm a huge fan of classic, highly deliberate tenor/alto pairings, and they can be really effective in free jazz settings (Shepp/Brown, Shepp/Tchicai, Jarman/Mitchell, etc.)--something about spotlighting the melody/noise dichotomy and how this relates to the respective lexicons of those two instruments. (I think Amiri Baraka was the one who first distinguished between a post-Trane/post-Ayler energy tenor school and the more melodic, post-Ornette alto vein.)

When Doyle plays a second or third melodic line, it's with this brusque, grainy tone (halfway between late Ayler and, basically, the paradigmatic untutored/high school tenor sax thing)--it's analogous to rhythm guitar. When Doyle erupts into a solo, it's like a supernova--or maybe a black hole, just sucking everything into its energetic axis and transforming things, if only momentarily, into pure catharsis. On Babi Music or the Blue Humans stuff, it's entirely this, and it can get exhausting--here, it's both a catalyst and secondary environment that re-contextualizes everything around it.

[flat5]

Can't listen to him. Tried...a little. RIP

[clifford_thornton]

I've been re-examining Doyle's music as of late, and Noah Howard's Black Ark really stuck out to me.

Having digested a large segment of the Howard discography in the last few weeks, this is clearly a highlight--strong melodies, very thoughtful arrangements, and a nice balance between driving modal grooves and multi-directional rhythm. I think what sets this apart from a lot of material with similar instrumentation and personnel is just how effectively the music showcases the very individual (and in some ways disparate) talents of the band members. Muhammad Ali, for example--he's a spectacular free percussionist and a creative, if somewhat less flashy, "inside" player--it's nice to hear him just hammer these dark, meaty vamps and then expand into abstract propulsion in the solo passages.

This is a great Doyle album, however, because the tenor is sort of a textural foil to the alto. I'm a huge fan of classic, highly deliberate tenor/alto pairings, and they can be really effective in free jazz settings (Shepp/Brown, Shepp/Tchicai, Jarman/Mitchell, etc.)--something about spotlighting the melody/noise dichotomy and how this relates to the respective lexicons of those two instruments. (I think Amiri Baraka was the one who first distinguished between a post-Trane/post-Ayler energy tenor school and the more melodic, post-Ornette alto vein.)

When Doyle plays a second or third melodic line, it's with this brusque, grainy tone (halfway between late Ayler and, basically, the paradigmatic untutored/high school tenor sax thing)--it's analogous to rhythm guitar. When Doyle erupts into a solo, it's like a supernova--or maybe a black hole, just sucking everything into its energetic axis and transforming things, if only momentarily, into pure catharsis. On Babi Music or the Blue Humans stuff, it's entirely this, and it can get exhausting--here, it's both a catalyst and secondary environment that re-contextualizes everything around it.

There you have it.

[unitstructures]

https://youtu.be/_d9zfhCPq3U

This documentary is an essential watch for Arthur Doyle fans.

I didn't really understand stories I had heard and read about him until I watched this. 

[colinmce]

Worth noting that with the exception of his sideman work on Babi and The Black Ark, none of his own music is currently in print, and most of what you can even find second hand is exorbitantly expensive -- most titles are scattered across a handful of long-defunct European labels. It's a damn shame; I don't think I can think of another comparable musician whose work is so difficult to hear in any capacity. And I don't exactly know what a viable solution would be. 

[Rabshakeh]

18 hours ago, unitstructures said:

https://youtu.be/_d9zfhCPq3U

This documentary is an essential watch for Arthur Doyle fans.

I didn't really understand stories I had heard and read about him until I watched this. 

Thanks!

[unitstructures]

Pretty nice Doyle stuff here.

Highly recommended for fans of Peter Brotzmann's collaborations with Keiji Haino.

Also, this is the final performance of Mizutani (Les Rallizes Denudes).

Edited November 30, 2022 by unitstructures